What We Do

Art 120 is a 501(c)3 organization created to enrich Chattanooga and its surrounding community through the creation, education, and celebration of STE(A)M-based learning.

Basically, it’s all about A.R.T.

Awareness between the community, artists, educators, and non-profit organizations thereby creating a creative network that will encompass a 120 mile radius around Chattanooga.

Reaching out to the public and underserved schools through free art events in Hamilton County that help strengthen Chattanooga’s ties to its creative community while recognizing participating artists of all ages and mediums.

Teaching STE(A)M-based workforce development skills to urban youth through the creation of mechanical sculpture and reinforcing talents through continued participation in community events.

Why Chattanooga?

In addition to being a wonderful city, Chattanooga has been historically recognized as a Geographical hub, reaching out to approximately 10 million people within a 120 minute commuting radius of downtown. This provides a unique opportunity for students, artists, engineers, educators, community organizations, and spectators from the entire southeast region and beyond, to be included in our programs and of those we serve.

Chattanooga is full of makers and creatives, ready to "make" this city's art accessible to all. Art 120 is just one of these organizations, and we are grateful to be a part of this effort. The surrounding area's schools and community members do not always receive opportunities to create and express themselves in a positive and productive way. Or if there are opportunities, there may be other obstacles or limitations that may unintentionally exclude potential learners. We do not accept the attitude that art is an exclusive privilege, so we seek out partners to ensure that the people around us from all walks of life can receive the right to make.

We look forward to engaging and encouraging Chattanooga to make a difference for A.R.T. with our fellow arts advocates and amazing community members like you! Contact us using the form on the right and scroll down to learn more about our current team members!

Contact In

Who We Are

Kate Warren, Art 120 Founder and Executive Director - Kate Warren has over twenty years experience in marketing, graphic design, arts event management, and visual art. In her career, Kate has taught arts education programs, produced monthly art events, ran internet media campaigns, and served in marketing/brand management for several large Chattanooga businesses. Kate can be reached at 423/314-6659 or via email at katewarren@art120.org.

Dan Mailman, Studio MindStride/Art 120 partner - Dan made Studio MindStride for getting the word out on projects. He is developing for either love or profit. It’s about 6 years old now. He doesn’t really have a mission or plan except to make cool things that help creative people do even cooler things. His workshops are at Art 120 in Chattanooga and at TXRX Labs, a Houston-based hackerspace and makerspace. His second greatest pleasure these days is lending a hand to my creative maker colleagues in these spaces. He have a fair ability to encourage bits to dance on cue, and mostly he writes software for projects. The software often takes on a life of its own and is sufficiently 'magical' that Dan thinks of it as Genies serving makers. What are Genies? Genies are usually custom software for projects for commercial use, enrichment classes to give makers practice being makers, teach complex STE(A)M skills in a fun, interesting, hands-on, process. The Stage Genie Tech and Curriculum (Thanks to Mozilla!!) is an example of affordable tools to assist creatives in the business of creating.

Hannah Hahn, Art 120 Education Coordinator - Hannah Hahn is a practicing visual artist and a recent graduate of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga with a Bachelor’s Degree in Art Education and a minor in History. Hannah primarily draws and paints, but also experiments with other assorted mediums to produce her work, specifically photography and sculpture. Art has always been a personal passion and source for relaxation or reflection for Hannah, and she's excited to share her admiration for the arts with the community, as well as learn from those who a part of it. She is eagerly planning projects and writing curriculum with Chattanooga's educators and advocates, so if you are interested in helping please don't hesitate to reach out! Email her at paintedstoryart@gmail.com!

Check out Snapshots of Making, Maker Ed Initiative's blog on Maker VISTA's like Dan and Hannah!

Public Education Foundation STEP UP Chattanooga Interns for Summer 2017

Public Education Foundation's STEP UP Chattanooga Program has allowed Art 120 to invite and train 3 high school student interns to join the team for the Summer of 2017! Christopher, Laila, and Loren have already accomplished a lot with us, so stay posted for updates by signing up for our newsletter and by following us on social media (we're almost everywhere, and if you can't find us, reach out to us here to let us know what we're missing out on!). We still need help making their experience the best it can be, so please email edu@art120.org to find out how to get involved!

Laila Smith

Laila Smith is a Junior who goes to The Howard School of Academics and Technology. She was born and raised in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Currently, Laila is interested in suspense writing, as she was influenced by famous writers of the genre like Stephen King and Dean Koontz. Occasionally, she has been known to write about more serious topics, like death or fire, but she doesn’t think that the topics are her only limits. Laila has been an artist for almost four years. She is also influenced by other medias of art and is holding a paid internship at Art120 located in her hometown. Laila hopes to become web-comic writer/author, or at the very least, something that has anything do with comics and writing.

Loren West

Loren has just graduated from Chattanooga High Center for Creative Arts and will soon be a student of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago this fall. She has always had a passion for art and mainly paints and draws, but is hoping to experiment with other mediums in college. She has also had the privilege to take art classes in Los Angeles during the Summer of 2016 and meet successful artists. Loren hopes her experience with Art 120 will help her choose what career path she wants to take when finished with college.

Christopher White

Christopher's future career plans involve going to college to earn degrees in computer coding and physical therapy. Helping others has always been a big thing for Christopher, for as long as he can remember. Seeing the disabled not being able to function completely, or at all, is what makes him want to grow up to do something about it; to help other people be able to move and interact just like others. Coding is another thing, because around the 7th grade, Christopher found a website named Roblox, and found out that you could make your own game with it, and after Christopher tried it out, he found a passion for coding.